The invention concerns a centrifuge for separating mixtures of liquids, of which the drum has an upper diversion chamber and a lower diversion chamber that divert the fractionated constituents of the liquid out of the drum and that are separated by a replaceable lid, wherein at least one of the diversion chambers has a peeling structure that is provided with channels and an intake pipe that supplies the mixture of liquids.
A centrifuge drum of this type is known from German Pat. No. 3 136 627 for example. It is employed to separate mixtures of oil and water. The separated oil component is diverted through channels into the lower diversion chamber and the water component into the upper diversion chamber. The lower diversion chamber accommodates a peeling structure that diverts the separated oil under pressure. The separated water leaves the centrifuge drum unpressurized and is intercepted in the centrifuge hood.
The drum must be cleaned from time to time in order to maintain its output. Such cleaning is almost exclusively carried out by rinsing the drum with a rinse while the drum rotates at full speed. The rinse is kept circulating, which necessitates, in a drum of this type, intercepting the unpressurized rinse as it leaves the hood, combining it with the rinse leaving the peeling structure, and returning it to the drum. This requires at least one pump for the rinse that leaves the hood, which increases the installation cost. Since the drum needs to be cleaned out only every one to three months, it would be desirable to eliminate the expense of the pump.